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In case you were expecting to see Spanish Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera as one of the ordaining bishops at the episcopal ordination of Archbishop-designate J. Augustine DiNoia tomorrow in Washington, think again.

The cardinal, who is the prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, experienced “visa difficulties” and could not board the plane in Rome, according to Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington.

Retired Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly of Louisville, Ky., will step in. Archbishop Kelly, who was already planning on attending, was Archbishop-designate DiNoia’s spiritual adviser as a seminarian at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington.

After his episcopal ordination, the archbishop-designate will become secretary of the worship congregation. He says “oodles” of his family members will be in attendance for the ceremony at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, as well as more than 100 Dominican priests, four cardinals and at least a dozen bishops.

Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church travel on “official passports” issued by the Holy See. Diplomatic Passports are issued by the Holy See only for its diplomats who are accredited to a particular country. There is a difference between “official passports” and “diplomatic passports”. In the USA members of congress are issued “official passports” not “diplomatic passports”.
I suspect however that in this situation the cardinal in question was not using his official Vatican issued passport but was travelling on his Spanish passport. Spanish nationals require a visa for entry into the USA.
Most countries waive visa requirements for holders of Vatican City State official passports. The Vatican also issues regular passports to its “not-so-official” personages.